INTERVIEW: Some fresh opposition

Manager Greg Abbott confirmed today that the line up of pre-season friendly fixtures was set to cause a bit of interest for players and fans alike.

“I think it’s important to get good friendly fixtures,” he said.

“The home games against Bolton and Burnley certainly fit into that category. They are teams with very good players and they will be a good test for us.

“With no disrespect to the teams we have played here over the last few summers, this provides us with fresh opposition and some new faces.”

“The fans will enjoy the visits of Bolton and Burnley because they haven’t seen them for a while,” he continued. “We should have a number of new players who will be doing their best to make their mark as well, so it’s a series of games for us all to look forward to.”

“We also have a trip up to Kilmarnock which we are trying to finalise,” he revealed. “That will be a good night out – it’s only an hour and a half or so up the road – and they like us up there. It will give our fans a chance to travel to somewhere different.

“I’ve spoken to Kenny Shiels and we aren’t too far away from being able to announce the details. Hopefully we’ll get it all tied up soon.”

“On top of that we want to look after our local teams as much as we can,” he told us. “We’ll try to fit games in with Penrith, Kendal, Annan and Workington, and if we can fit Barrow into the mix we’d like to do that as well. We also have a team over in Yorkshire which we might try to help out, so there are still a few small issues for us to resolve.

“A few dates have been publicised but we aren’t finalised with that side of it just yet. There may be a little bit of tinkering still to do to make sure we get the best situation for all concerned. Again, as soon as we have dates and times set in stone we will let everyone know.”

“We’ve also tinkered with the pre-season programme as a whole this year,” he explained. “We want to do longer sessions to include the running and fitness aspects, which are vital, but also to include more of the technical and ball work almost from day one.

“It’s a clean slate for everybody as far as I’m concerned. Every player needs to show that he wants to play and that he can do the job we need him to do.

“Everybody has to earn their corn at this club next season, from top to bottom.”

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